


The Detective and the Panopticon

by LotusFlair



Series: A Series of Archival Speculations [5]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Blood, Mild Gore, Some Spoilers for Mag 158, Spoilers, bloody eyes, panopticon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 07:37:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21115133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LotusFlair/pseuds/LotusFlair
Summary: Basira finds her way to the Panopticon and Elias offers her a choice.





	The Detective and the Panopticon

She'd left Daisy behind. She was told to run and she did. The only place she could run was the way Jon had fled, into the tunnels. She wasn't about to bother asking Helen for help. The last thing she wanted was to involve more monsters. She figured if she found a dead end, she'd be able to backtrack as long as she made note of where she'd been. It took some doing, but eventually she found a path that appeared to cut through the bulk of the maze below the archives. She wasn't sure how far she walked, or how long, but eventually she found the first signs of the structure at the center. Climbing the metal stairs, her feet carried her without hesitation. She took a moment to determine how high up she was traveling in case a hasty retreat was needed. It was a long way down and a fall from any further up left no uncertainty of death as the final result. It surprised her how little fear she had of dying. There were worse fates in this world now that her eyes had been truly opened and death had suddenly become the least worrisome outcome.

When she ascended to the main platform, she saw the worm standing in smug silence. Elias Bouchard, the current host of Jonah Magnus's mind, stood by the horrifically preserved, eye-less body of the Institute's namesake. She didn't bother hiding her weapon. He knew. She had to assume whatever she knew, any event or memory, was fair game for him to manipulate. She'd never been one to withhold aspects of her life, but Elias was a master at twisting even the most benign details.

"Hello, Detective," he said, dragging the words out in his sickening baritone. "Glad you could make it."

"Where are they?" she asked.

"To whom are you referring?"

"No games, Magnus," she snarled.

His smile somehow got bigger. "I wouldn't dream of it. I'm afraid Peter, Martin, and Jon are otherwise occupied."

"Will they be back?"

He shrugged. "It's possible. But...that really all depends on how strong Jon's become. I will say, he looked very weak. I believe that was your doing, was it not? No more meals. Not even a snack of any substance. Death was the punishment you deemed fitting to mete out for his transgressions. It would seem your machinations have come to pass. Well done."

"I wasn't trying to kill him," she said defensively.

"Perhaps, but you didn't seem too bothered with keeping him alive either," he said. He smoothly walked around the chair, eyes unconcerned with the pistol following his every move. "Maybe you were just eliminating the competition."

"What?"

"Come now, Detective, don't play stupid with me," he scolded. "You've felt it, haven't you? Waiting in the shadows. Watching the archives and the institute as people come and go. You've done the reading, but the books don't satisfy you anymore. Listening to the recorded statements feels hollow, unfulfilling. You wonder what it must be like to have Jon's power - to pull the words right out of their mouths and let their stories, their fear, satiate you. You even let Jon demonstrate his abilities on the way to Ny-Ålesund...because you were curious."

"Shut up!" she shouted, her voice echoing among the towering platforms. He made a movement forward and she fired. The bullet missed his foot by an inch, but the message was clear.

Elias seemed less relaxed after her outburst. He straightened his shoulders and fixed Basira with a menacing glare. "Fine. I'll make myself perfectly clear. If I die, then the institute crumbles. If you have any desires to stop the other Powers from completing their rituals in the future, or stop the Extinction from birthing, then you'll still need my help. It's the only way to maintain order. It's the only way you'll be able to find Daisy again."

"I don't need you to find her."

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong. She's a Hunter; kill or be killed and instinct over certainty. You might have logic on your side, but logic can't slay a feral beast," he said. He took a cautious step forward, assessing whether or not she'd notice. Another step. And another. "You still want to save her, don't you? Remarkable. All of you are so lost without each other and yet you still manage to tear each other apart. Well, I suppose that's the way of things around here. Regardless, I can give you the resources to find her."

"In exchange for what?"

"I appear to be down one archivist and, unlike your predecessor, I feel like you'd be much more up to the task at hand," he said. "Consider the last year and a half a very thorough vetting process. You'll have the run of the archives and use of the Panopticon at your leisure. Nothing will be out of your reach, Detective. You will Know and See everything."

He was a salesman through and through. The feel and pull of infinite knowledge, of sated curiosity, was intoxicating. And he had a point about finding Daisy. She wasn't a Hunter and Daisy wouldn't be in a state of mind to listen to reason. She needed help. Damn the man, but at least he was being honest. Maybe that was another aspect of the Eye manifesting. She Knew he was telling the truth.

The gun lowered slightly. "You're right..."

Elias smiled. "Good. Now let me--"

Four more shots echoed and a body slumped to the floor. Elias looked up at her, eyes wide as he tried to process the bloody holes in his body. She stepped over him, putting the gun to his head.

"You deserve worse," she said. "For all of the pain and suffering you've caused...there isn't a Hell fiery enough to punish you. But I guess this will have to do."

Elias gasped desperately, "You need me!"

"No, I don't," she said. She looked over at the corpse only a few feet away. Then she gripped his face, examining his eyes. "I just need these."

The last shot rang out.

When Basira staggered back into the archives, she walked past the carnage and blood-stained walls. The changeling was a messy carcass of anonymous flesh and bones covering what used to be Melanie's desk. She saw Trevor Herbert's head poking around the corner, though she wasn't sure if the rest of his body was with it or dragged off somewhere else. There was no sign of Julia...or Daisy. Fighting back tears, she entered Jon's office. Sitting in his chair, she threw the blood-soaked rag of torn cloth on to the desk. Loosening the rough knot she'd fastened, the eyes of Jonah Magnus rolled out of their confines with a sickening squish.

"You'd better come back," she said to one archivist in particular. "The work's not done."

She leaned back in Jon's chair and waited.


End file.
